Smart working yes, even forever, but with a lighter paycheck if you decide to do it far from the city – This is the diktat proposed by Google to its employees who decide to work from home. In choosing what to do, employees will be supported by a salary calculator prepared by the Mountain View giant.
In detail, those who risk cuts in their paychecks, even substantial ones, are Google workers who choose to work from home permanently and live in less expensive areas of those where the company’s offices are located. How will Google decide on any pay cuts? The new job tracking tool will take care of it that shows employees the salary adjustments they can expect to receive if they decide to relocate or apply for a completely remote job. “Our new payroll tool was developed to help employees make informed decisions about which city or state they work from and any impact on compensation if they choose to relocate or work remotely,” remarks a Google spokesperson. .
As slevag by Reuters, which looked at Google’s internal calculator, employees who previously traveled from Stamford, Connecticut, an hour’s train ride from New York, could see their salaries cut by 15% if they choose. to continue working from home without changing address. Instead, employees who live in the five boroughs of New York and choose to work from home indefinitely would not see any wage cuts. Differences of 5% and 10% are expected in the Seattle, Boston and San Francisco areas. Google will not change employee pay if they work completely remotely from the same city.
Not only Google, the risk of wage cuts is growing for those who work remotely
During the pandemic, Google supported smart working and recently approved nearly 10,000 employee requests to work remotely. Facebook and Twitter also took a similar stance by cutting the wages of those employees who chose smart working by moving to less expensive areas.
Enrico Moretti, Professor of Economics at the University of Berkeley, believes that 100% remote work will remain a very minority and could indeed lead to a new scenario where remote full-time workers are paid less, depending on their position.